Marvel-ous Monday: "Nighthawk's Brain!" by Gerber, S. Buscema, and Mooney

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! A mere 10 issues after their introduction (Defenders #31, October 1975), Steve Gerber finally went all out to unleash the horrible Headmen upon the dynamic Defenders! The weird factor ramps up to 150 (on a scale from 1 to 10) as Nighthawk is "possessed" by the mystic headman Chondu (who again uses drugs to enhance his mystical power!), Hulk "adopts" a baby deer, a certain Elf With a Gun makes an appearance, and Dr. Strange unleashes his full power...with dire results. Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney are a perfect art team for "grounding" the way-out proceedings of "Nighthawk's Brain!"

Cover art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia

Marvel-ous Monday: "Enter: The Headmen!" by Gerber, S. Buscema, and Trapini

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Yeah, Ol' Groove knows that he wasn't fooling anyone with last Monday's post, but it was fun to write. Here, today, is the comic you knew was coming...the comic in which Steve Gerber really started to make the Defenders his own...Defenders #21 (December 1974) and "Enter: The Headmen!" This weirdo trio of baddies made life pretty rough on our favorite non-team for quite some time...and it all started right here (with art by Sals Buscema and Trapini)!

Cover art by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson

Marvel-ous Monday: Three Weird Wonder Tales with art by Powell, Wildey, and Torres

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Doing something wild, weird, and (hopefully) wonderful on this first Monday of September 2018 (Labor Day to those of us in the U.S.): focusing on three specific reprints from Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #7 (September 1974). While the venerable Grand Comics Database doesn't list the author(s) for this trio of shockers, Ol' Groove can't help but wonder if Stan Lee didn't write some or all of 'em. (He did edit them.) "It Walks Erect!" was drawn (again, as per the info on GCD) by Bob Powell, "The Wrath of Chondu!" was drawn by Doug Wildey (though a certain Wikipedia entry credits George Evans--Ol' Groove sides with GCD), and "Prisoner of the Fantastic Fog" was illustrated by Angelo Torres. Why did Ol' Groove choose these three seemingly random tales from a seemingly random ish of a reprint mag focused on pre-Marvel Age sci fi? To separate the MEN from the boys? Literally? 'Cause, for those of you who were around during the Groovy Age, you probably already know, especially when you realize that the stories feature Arthur Nagan, Jerry Morgan, and Chondu. For those of you still scratching your HEADs, you can cheat and google search, or follow the above links, or...you can wait 'til next Monday to learn...the big secret!

Cover art by Larry Lieber and Vinnie Colletta